It's a NO, Scotland remains part of the UK.

The majority of Scotland has voted 'no' for "independence".

Dundee City, Glasgow, North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire all had a majority of 'yes' voters, but the majority of the rest of Scotland voting 'no'. (source BBC)

I think they've made the right choice for their country. In my opinion they kind of rushed into things with having the referendum now. The Scottish parliament has only existed since 1999, 15 years is nothing really.

It will be interesting to see how the 'yes' campaigners like Salmond reacts to this outcome. It will also be interesting to see how the relationship between Scotland and the rest of the UK (rUK) will be now, and whether Scotland gets any more power in any way.

It would have been interesting to see what would have happened in the case of a 'yes' vote, both with Scotland and the rUK. But who knows, maybe they'll try again in a few decades and who knows what will happen then.

Interested in politics for the first time ever

Tomorrow, the people of Scotland will be voting on wether they want to be independent from the rest of the UK (rUK) or not. I've been hearing about this for a while, but it wasn't until a few days ago that I realised it's actually quite interesting. Just think about it. If Scotland does become independent we will be witnessing an important part of political history.

I remembered a course had been advertised on Future Learn about understanding the referendum a while back. When I first saw it I had just thought "not really bothered, nothing to do with me". However, I am very happy this course is still open now that I have developed an interest, it's open for another 2 weeks if anybody is interested in joining. I only signed up for it yesterday, but I have already managed to finish the 4 weeks of course material that is open.

It has been really interesting to learn a little bit more about Scotland's political history and why they want the referendum.

Scotland say they want independence, but they just want an independent parliament. They still want the Queen as head of state. To me, that's not really independence. Independence is having your own king/queen/president/whatever as well as the rest of the government.

What I think is a shame is that only people living in Scotland is eligible to vote, Scots living outside Scotland doesn't have a say.

What has surprised me the most isn't really what's on the course though, it's what people on the course would vote. Every week there has been a poll, where the students can say what they would vote if they were able to. With being late to join I've only done one poll. The results through the weeks has surprised me though. The people voting yes for independence has actually increased! After going through the course material as well as the statements of the two different sides I am surprised anyone would still vote yes. But, everyone is different and that's what makes the world an interesting place.

The vote is tomorrow, and I am really looking forward to find out the result. In a way I'm not too bothered which way it goes. I think it would be best for both parts to stay in a union, but at the same time it would be interesting to se how it goes if Scotland does get independence. Whichever way it goes it will be close and there will be a lot of disappointed people.

Thornbridge Brewery

On Wednesday I went to Thornbridge Brewery with the Meetup group I'm a member of.

Phil and I caught the bus to Bakewell and walked to the brewery. It's only a 10 minute walk, and this way Phil could sample as much beer as he wanted and not worry about driving afterwards. We walked along the river to get to the brewery, it was a really nice walk. I guessing that if we had walked along the road, the footpath would have been very narrow, if there was one at all.

For those of you that know me you might be wondering what I was doing at a brewery tour at all, seeing as I don't like beer. I still don't like beer. It was more for the social aspect; to get out of the house and do something different, maybe even learn something new, and of course to spend some time with nice people.

The brewery was surprisingly difficult to find. I had turned the GPS on my phone on and when it told me we had reached out destination we were standing outside a kind of small industrial park and there were no signs pointing to the brewery. We did notice a map by the entrance, which actually led us in the wrong direction at first, as it looked like you didn't have to go through the gates. Once we did walk through the gates we had to walk for a while before there finally was a sign that said Thornbridge Brewery, from there it was easy to just follow the signs to the brewery. So it's not like it was super difficult to find or anything, but it would have been nice if there had been a proper sign outside the gates so that we knew straight away to go though them.

While we waited for the tour to start we got to hang out in the shop, which had a lot of sofas and chairs to sit down on, it was almost like a bright cosy pub. The main attraction for most people in this room was the bar. We all got a half pint glass and could sample the various brews they had on offer. They only did 4 or 5 brews on their little bar, but you could have as much as you wanted.

I sampled the Baize chocolate mint stout... I couldn't really taste the chocolate at all! Didn't enjoy it. I did sample some of the lagers as well, and although a couple of them were quite fresh, I wouldn't sit down and drink any of them.

I really enjoyed the tour of the brewery. It's a small one but there was still a lot to see. As I hadn't heard of Thornbridge before I went on the tour I thought it was just a small brewery that only supplied beer to local pubs, so I was very surprised to learn how many countries they export their beer to. They export beer to Japan, USA, Sweden and Australia amongst others.

I thought it was a really nice way to spend the afternoon, and I really enjoyed it, even without drinking beer.

We paid £7.50 each for the tour, included in the price we got all the samples we wanted in the bar both before and after the tour, and we also got to keep the half pint glass they served the samples in, which i think they sold in the shop for around £3.50, so you really got your money's worth!

Definitely a nice day out, especially if you are interested in, and like beer, and if you don't.

My favourite place

I love the countryside.

Listening to the birds' dawn chorus in the mornings
The wind rustling the leaves
The silence of the empty roads
The clear, starry, night skies

The different plants and animals
Sounds and aromas
The differences of countrysides around the world
The similarities

The fjords and mountains of Norway, equally beautiful at any time of year.
The snowcapped mountains in winter
Everything coming to life in spring
The lush greenery of summer
The fiery colours of autumn

The rolling hills of the UK countryside.
The hedges and old dry stone walls separating the fields
The little old villages that time forgot
The ruins of civilisations that was.

Why sustainability?

As mentioned earlier, I have recently started an online course called Sustainability, society and you.

Environmental sustainability is something I have been interested in for a while now. I think I really started to think about it when I lived and worked as an au pair in England 7 years ago, as the family I worked for was very environmental conscious, so of course that made me think about it.

The main reason sustainability matters to me is because of concerns for the future.

There is currently 7 billion people living on our planet, 100 years ago it was only 1.6 billion! If the world's populations keeps increasing at this rate the world will run out of food and fresh water. It would be nice to find ways to make sure that doesn't happen.

However, as I have learnt more about the environment and climate change I have realised that sustainability isn't just something for future generations, it is something we should be concerned about now.

The thing that worries me is how people refuse to acknowledge the issues the planet is currently facing due to pollution and industrialisation. Even if you don't believe in climate change, what would be the harm in trying to live a more sustainable and environmental lifestyle?

EPCOT and Downtown Disney

As I have been to EPCOT before I decided to take the later bus from the hotel to the theme parks yesterday. I didn't have lie in, but it was nice to have time to write yesterday's post, have breakfast and explore the area my hotel is in.

I walked around the small lake by my hotel, which didn't take very long. There are mostly just souvenir shops, hotels and restaurants near me. Just like last time I was in America I quite enjoyed seeing restaurants that I've only ever heard about on films and TV. I even live within walking distance of Wet'n'Wild. Not that I'm interested in going there, even if it would be nice to cool down.

When I got to EPCOT I only had a short walk around before going through the back entrance to one of the resorts, where I caught a transfer bus to Downtown Disney to meet up with Sophie.

Sophie is a British girl I used to work with in a pub last time I lived in England, about 4-5 years ago, and I haven't seen her since then. She now lives and works in Orlando so it was nice to finally be able to meet up and catch up. We went to Earl of Sandwich for some late lunch, the sandwiched was really good, but the thing I liked the most was probably sitting inside for a little bit, I don't think I would have been able to eat my sandwich if I had been sitting outside in the heat.

Sophie had to go to work at 6pm and so I went back to EPCOT. I had a wander around the world showcase, before finding a spot in Italy to watch the fireworks from. I missed the fireworks last time so it was really nice to finally see them. The fireworks and light-show was absolutely amazing! If you go to EPCOT, don't miss it!

Unless you want to catch the monorail to see the fireworks at Magic Kingdom after EPCOT, I suggest watching the fireworks at EPCOT in the world showcase on the other side of the entrance, that way you get to see some of the countries all lit up before exiting the park.

Favourite mistake

Is there a mistake you've made that turned out to be a blessing - or otherwise changed your life for the better? - The Daily Post

Renting this house.

I had seen a flat on the letting website that I liked the look of. When I went into the estate agent's to borrow the keys to view the flat I could only remember the name of the road it was on, so the lady gave me some keys and said there was a sign on the side of the house. I didn't realise until after I had left with the keys that it wasn't supposed to be a house.

I decided to just have a little nosey at whatever she had given me the keys for and then, when handing the keys back, explain the mistake and get the keys for the flat I had meant the first time.

I easily found the agent's sign on the front of a terraced house. I opened the door with the keys I'd been given.... And I fell in love with the house straight away! It was old but at the same time had a modern feel to it as most of the walls were white, with only one wall in each room a different colour. There was an electric cooker (I can't deal with gas) and there was no carpet in the kitchen or bathroom, and best of all; it was quite big for a British house.

I enquired about the price, which was out of my budget, but not by much as the owner had apparently just knocked the price down to try and get someone to let it. As I couldn't afford it and I knew Joe wasn't happy about living so far out of town, I asked him if he wanted to share it, I wouldn't need 3 bedrooms on my own. He had a look at the house as well and liked it, so we moved in together.

I am really happy there was a misunderstanding and I got the wrong keys. If I had gotten the flat I would have lived there on my own as it was only one bedroom, and, as it turns out, it would have still been out of my budget. I thought I'd be able to get a full-time job when I moved back to England, but as it turns out I'm still in a part-time job, getting less overtime every week due to budget cuts, and so I would not have been able to afford to live on my own.

The gallery gang

I recently joined a Meetup group. It's a nice way to meet new people and get some new experiences, and most importantly; get my arse off the sofa and go outside!

Yesterday I went on my first meetup. It was at the Millennium Gallery in Sheffield. There were only a few of us, but it was quite nice as it was a easier to talk to each person and get to know them. I was a little nervous about going but I'm glad I did, I had a really nice time.

I think I've been to the millennium gallery once before, the first time I lived in Chesterfield, but other than the metal sculpture in the hallway I can't really remember much from it. Not that it matters too much, apparently they change the exhibits every few months.








It was really nice to see the exhibits and learn a bit more about Sheffield. I wouldn't mind going back to the galleries, it was a really nice way of spending the morning. And it was free!

I also took a few pictures on my way back to the train station.

A day in York

I went to York on Saturday. My aunt and cousin were in York for a couple of days for my cousin's school trip and as I happened to have a day off I decided to take the train up and meet up with them. 

York is such a gorgeous city. I had not been since the last time I lived in the UK so it's at least 5 years since the last time I was there. I love all the little independent shops and all the pedestrian streets. To me, York symbolises one of the many things I love about the UK, one of the things that made me want to move here in the first place: There is just so much history and old buildings! I think I could probably spend a month in York and still not see everything there is to see, or learn all the history there is there.

I met up with my aunt and cousin outside the Railway Museum. I've never been before so it was really nice to see something new, or as it turned out, something old. The old trains they have there are absolutely amazing! I love old things, especially when they are well preserved. It was really interesting to see how the trains have changed over time, and it was also really fun seeing the royal carriages.  I actually wouldn't mind going back to the museum as well as we didn't get around to seeing it all. 

After the museum we took the little train that runs from the museum to the minster. It's not a long walk, but it is always nice to be able to sit down for a little bit when you got a day planned that involves a lot of walking. When we arrived at the minster we walked through town to find a place to have lunch. When she had heard we were meeting up, my grandmother had given my aunt some money to pay for lunch, which was really nice!

After lunch I wandered over to York Dungeons with the school trip, and while they got in line to go inside, I decided to explore a bit of York on my own. It had been nice to see my aunt and cousin again, even if it was just for a few hours, but they were there because of the school trip, not to see me, and I didn't want to disrupt their visit too much.

I wandered around in York for a bit before I decided maybe I should head back home, it was still early but my aunt had given me a bag with salt liquorice, which was really nice of her!! However, I get tired and cranky when I have to carry bags (one of the reasons I don't like shopping) and so all I wanted to do was to sit down and not have to carry anything. 

As I headed in the general direction of the train station I came across a sign that said there were free guided walks of York at 10.15 and 14.15, I looked at the time, 14.13, perfect timing! I wasn't in a rush or anything so I figured I might as well go on the walk, which is arranged by the Association of voluntary guides to the city of York. Even though I had to carry the bag of liquorice I didn't want to pass up an opportunity to see more of York.

There were maybe around 15 of us on the tour, a couple of germans, a few Americans, a few Brits and me. The guide we had was very knowledgable, it was really interesting to learn about the history of York. As soon as she mentioned the Vikings I made sure to tell her I am here to take over again. It was also really nice to see parts of York I might not have seen had I just walked around on my own, and if I had seen those places when I walked around on my own I would probably just have though, "that's pretty, I'll take a picture", but I wouldn't have known anything about it, whereas now I do. So if you are in York, a guided tour can be quite useful, just make sure to check the times on the website as they do change them depending on the season.





A guided tour can also be a nice way to meet new people. One of the guys on the tour started talking to me and when the tour finished he gave me his ticket to the minster! He had already been in that day, and as he was going up to Edinburgh in a couple of days before heading back to the states, he asked if I wanted his ticket! I just can not believe the kindness of some people! It did make sense in a way I guess, but still, it was just really nice.

I have never been inside York minster, but I've been wanting to ever since I first saw it. I might not be religious but I do think old churches and cathedrals can be really pretty. A free ticket meant I could actually go inside it this time! It is absolutely gorgeous inside, like most old religious buildings, they just put so much more effort and detail into them before than what they do nowadays. When I looked at their website today I actually found out they do free guided tours every hour. So, as my ticket is valid for a full year(!), I can go back and do the guided tour. It would be interesting to learn more about the minster, the voluntary guide on the city tour did tell us a little about it, but it would be interesting to learn about the inside of it as well. If I do go up again within a year I might also go up to the central tower, I bet there is a really nice view from up there.

Once I finished inside the minster I headed back towards the train station. It was a really good day. Quite a cheap day as well in a way, all I ended up paying for was the train ticket! I am going to try and get back up to York again in the not too distant future, it really is a lovely city. Maybe next time I will even go to Jorvik, and walk along more of the city wall than what I did on Saturday.

Blue John Cavern

Simon and I went to Blue John Cavern on Friday.

Driving through the Peak District easily makes you wonder if you missed a turn, you go through a few villages but mostly it's just empty countryside, which is gorgeous, but sometimes makes you worry you've gone the wrong way somewhere. 

When Simon and I got to the Blue John Cavern parking lot we weren't sure if we were in the right spot. There was a sign for the cavern on the side of the road, a footpath leading from the sign down to a small cottage all on its own, the parking lot consisted of a few spaces on the side of the road, and the road continued past the sign for the cavern. I like the fact that it's quite small though, and that it's not really commercialised, makes it seem more special.

It was quiet at the cavern when we went, so Simon and I got a guide all to ourselves! We got along very well with our guide, Ben. It was more like just walking around with a friend who told us various facts about the cavern. Another benefit of working shifts instead of Monday to Friday, you can go places when it's quiet.

I enjoyed walking through and learning about the cavern, it was a really nice day out. If you're in the Peak District I do suggest putting a couple of hours aside for visiting the cavern. I suggest wearing good shoes when you visit the cavern though, the ground is wet and slippery in places. 

Twycross Zoo

At the end of February I went to Twycross Zoo with Simon. I'm only just getting around to writing this post thanks to studying.

We had perfect weather for walking around outdoors when we went, a bit chilly but nice and sunny.

I had a lot of fun watching the animals. When the animals were playing their personalities really shone through, especially the primates'.

Simon and I went in the middle of the week, when there was no school holiday,  so the zoo was really quiet. The very few people in the zoo made it feel like we had the place to ourselves most of the time!  I don't know how busy it gets in summer or on weekends, but if given the opportunity you should go mid-week while the kids are in school. Unless you have a school-aged child you want to take with you of course!

In all Twycross zoo is a nice day out. If you like the zoo and you live close by, a zoo membership might be worth considering, you will only need to go 3 times a year to pay off the price for the annual pass.

1940's Weekend - Life on the Home Front

I usually walk past the Chesterfield Museum and Art Gallery every day on my way to work. 

As I walked past on Saturday I noticed some lovely 40's cars parked outside, I took some quick pictures but as I was heading to work I didn't have time to explore more. I was quite upset I didn't know about the exhibition that caused the cars to be there but it's only my own fault for not paying more attention to what goes on in town.

As soon as I got home from work Saturday night I found out that the exhibition was on for the whole weekend and as I was off on Sunday I decided to go then. 

Chesterfield Museum and Art Gallery is very small so it wasn't a huge exhibition but they did have a lot of interesting things concerning life on the Home Front in the 1940's. 

Unfortunately they didn't have as many of the gorgeous 40's cars outside on the Sunday so I didn't get any more pictures of them.

10 Lake Spectacular Winter Tour

On Friday I had booked the 10 Lake Spectacular Winter tour with Mountain Goat through GetYourGuide. I had actually booked it for Thursday but right after I booked  it they told me that one was full, luckily, since I was still planning to be in Windermere on Friday, they offered to move me onto that tour instead. 

The minibus picked me up from my B&B and once everyone was picked up we were 6 passengers on the minibus. Our guide for the day was Tony, who I have to say have a perfect voice for being a guide, he spoke clearly and not too fast, he also seemed very knowledgeable as well as interested in what he was telling us about, as all good guides should be.

I'm not going to tell you about every step of the tour as I think you should go and experience it for yourselves if you can. I also don't have pictures of every single lake anyway as sometimes the minibus stopped in places where we couldn't get out to take pictures. It might be just as well though as I think sometimes I get too focused on looking through the camera lens and I don't actually see what's around me.

The first place we stopped was Kirkstone pass, with its 500meters it's the highest pass in the Lake District, going up it was kind of like going up a steep mountain road in Norway. The view was amazing and I bet it's even more so when the sky is clear, but at least it was dry on Friday, and seeing the top of the fells hiding in the clouds is pretty cool as well.

With the high fells and big lakes driving through the Lake District was a lot like driving through Norway, until we came to the very typical small british villages; some of them very small but packed with character! Some places along the road there were flood markers, apparently the water sometimes get as high as 3 feet!

One of the best views on the tour was from the lookout named Surprise View, where we could see Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Lake in the distance. Apparently even prettier in summer but I really liked it with all the pretty autumn colours. A little bit down the road from Surprise view is Ashness Bridge, built in the 1600's and apparently the most photographed bridge in England.

We stopped for lunch in Keswick, I have been there before, in 2009 but couldn't really remember much other than Moot Hall. It's a nice village to wander around in, we had just over an hour for lunch and since I just grabbed a sandwich from an independent sandwich shop I had plenty of time to do just that. There are a lot of shops selling hiking equipment (not surprising when you consider where you are) and also a lot of sweet, chocolate and fudge shops. There was even a Norwegian store.

After lunch we stopped at Castlerigg stone circle which is about 4000-5000 years old, the stones are smaller than the ones at Stonehenge but like Stonehenge they don't really know what it was used for. Part of it is called the Sanctuary, and I kind of wonder if that's a name they have come up with in later times, as I find it strange if they know what part of it was called but not what it was used for… Why would only the name of part of it be preserved through history but nothing else?

The reservoir that provides Manchester with water, Thirlmere, is also in the Lake District, a long way to go just to get some water. Two villages were lost when they created the reservoir, but at least it looks pretty.

We also stopped in Grasmere for half an hour, this is where the Wordsworth graves are. The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop is of course there, it is over 100 years old, stepping inside it is a bit like stepping back in time, definitely worth a visit for more than the special gingerbread, which tastes a lot more of actual ginger than the usual gingerbread you get at Christmas.

In all the 10 Lake Spectacular Winter Tour was good, I learned a lot and saw lots of beautiful places.